The origins of snowboarding have been accredited to surf enthusiast, Sherman Poppen. The first "Snurfer" (snow-surfer) prototype was constructed in 1964, it consisted of a long plastic plank, ingeniously made from two kids' skis bolted together. The next revolutionary idea that hit snowboarding came from the mind of Dimitrije Milovich in 1970. Milovich's snowboards included steel edges, laminated fivberglass, gravel on the board for traction and nylon straps. Next we see the young mind of 23-year-old Jake Burton enter the industry. Burton added foottraps for better control, and fins for more stability. These implementations greatly increased snowboarding's popularity but it would still be quite a while until the sport was recognized.
By now we've hit the 80's and snowboarding was still not allowed on the public runs of most ski resorts. This meant that the first snowboarders were either relegated to the back country or forced to climb up the slopes at night in order to avoid detection. The early 90's saw a boom of tinkering and evolution of the snowboard, rivaling the discoveries of The Renaissance. At this point we see improved gliding abilities, the first high back bindings for ankle protection, rounded tails, hard boots, plate bindings, powder boards, race boards, free style boards, the wave was coming hard.
By the mid 90's snowboarding became the fastest growing winter sport. With about 80% of kids choosing to snowboard, ski resorts were quick to change their ways and open the doors to snowboarding. The rest, as they say, is history.